Bron Aberanerch

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 52.0878, -4.3426

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Dyfed County

Description

Description The site comprises a dry, herb-rich pasture on a south-facing slope in the Cerdin Valley at an altitude of 150 metres (490 feet). The plant diversity of the neutral grassland is maintained by a stable regime and this is one of the best examples in Ceredigion of an unimproved, calcareous pasture. An outstanding feature of the sward is the local abundance of quaking-grass Briza media, although red fescue Festuca rubra is the main dominant. Forbs comprise an unusually high proportion of the vegetation and, with some twenty-five species of flowering plants present in one square metre of turf, the species-richness is extremely high. Conspicuous and abundant members of the grassland community are fairy flax Linum catharticum, burnet-saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga, glaucous sedge Carex flacca and pignut Conopodium majus. The dry, southerly aspect of the site is reflected in the presence of Smith's pepperwort Lepidium heterophyllum.

Species mentioned

English name
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Latin name
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IUCN / Red List Type Family
quaking grass Briza media VU grass poaceae
red fescue Festuca rubra LC grass poaceae
pignut Conopodium majus LC herb apiaceae
Smith's pepperwort Lepidium heterophyllum VU herb brassicaceae
fairy flax Linum catharticum LC herb linaceae
burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga NT herb apiaceae
glaucus sedge Carex flacca LC sedge cyperaceae